


Sailed Across the Milky Seas

by KingdomFlameVIII



Category: Hieroglyphs: The Celestial Conspiracies - Talhí Briones
Genre: First Kiss, Light Angst, M/M, Post-Canon, Wing Grooming, Wingfic, Wings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:55:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24478312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingdomFlameVIII/pseuds/KingdomFlameVIII
Summary: Anubis and Harouk share a private moment aboard the Ibis.
Relationships: Anubis/Harouk
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Sailed Across the Milky Seas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Wheel_of_fortune](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wheel_of_fortune/gifts).



> I read this book in one sitting and then wrote this fic in an hour, and I'll row this goddamn ship myself if I have to.

The sea was calm, and the night was dark. Anubis paced alone above deck. He'd spent many nights this way, pain free and restless. 

His skin looked grey and ashen in the moonlight, and it bore little reflection. He searched the sky aimlessly, and paid no attention to the approaching footsteps.

"What has you so distracted?"

Anubis exhaled mirthless laugh. 

"That's a very stupid question."

Harouk sat with his back to the railing. "You should speak with the princess more. She was generous to share her venture with us. The least you can do is satisfy her curiosity a bit."

"And where is her highness at the moment?" Anubis asked dryly.

"She and Hermes will deplete the wine stores before our journey is half over, I'm afraid," the angel said wistfully. "Iram has his hands full."

"Osiris give me strength," said Anubis.

The joke didn't land, and smiles reached neither of their faces.

"That wasn't very funny," said Harouk.

"No," agreed Anubis, somber. "It wasn't."

They shared a companionable silence for a moment. They didn't usually go this long without petty bickering. Anubis would never admit to feeling awkward, but… unsettled maybe. 

Yes. There had been a lot of feeling unsettled lately.

"Unemployment suits you," he decided to say.

It was true. Harouk had taken to the sails with delight. Anybody could cloak themselves like a mortal, but  _ living  _ like a mortal came more naturally to him than the others.

"But not you," said Harouk shrewdly. 

"Don't pretend to understand me,  _ angel _ ," Anubis snarled.

"We're the same," Harouk replied gently.

He stood and brought his burned wings out. They continued to molt, pushed out by new down and tangling in with the new growth. The newest feathers were still translucent, and there was furiously inflamed skin swollen all around them. 

It hadn't been excessively long since he'd last been groomed, but they were in a state now that looked itchy at best and searingly painful at worst. Anubis knew something about pain.

_ That was a dirty trick,  _ he thought bitterly.

"Sit," he said quietly.

Anubis knew nothing of grooming wings, but nonetheless his hands made their way into them, easing the dead feathers out and away. They fluttered away like ashes and dissolved into the aether.

He worked silently, gently. He handled the wings as he would a soul. He realized with a miserable pang that he missed it, having something to take care of. 

Harouk, too, had a penance to pay, and Anubis privately felt contrition for how vastly he had overlooked it.

When Anubis felt satisfied with his work, he stroked over the wings one last time with his palms, and let his hands fall to his sides. 

"Is it quiet for you?" Harouk asked. "I can't hear them anymore."

Anubis felt his throat tighten. 

"I—There aren't words."

Harouk turned, and then they were kissing, and Anubis relaxed into his hold.

"I think," Harouk whispered, when they parted, "we should stick together now."

Anubis snorted, and kissed him again.

"Together." He rolled the word thoughtfully over his tongue. "Yes, agreed."

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I haven't quite grasped their characters yet and I think I'm projecting ineffable husbands onto them a bit, but I do want to write more in the future


End file.
